Drop generators, such as used with inkjet printers for ejecting droplets of ink, are generally formed over an insulated, rigid substrate to define a printhead. The substrate is often part of a conventional silicon wafer that is delineated into an array of individual dies. Each die on the wafer is processed to produce a single printhead. The wafer printhead dies are thereafter separated and incorporated into print cartridges or carriers that connect the printhead with an ink supply.
The printheads are manufactured from selected combinations of thin film layers of material that are deposited or grown on the substrate using processes often adapted from conventional semiconductor component fabrication. In particular, drop generators and associated control circuitry of the printhead are incorporated into and carried on the front surface of the rigid substrate mentioned above. In certain designs, the material comprising at least one of the thin film layers may be permeable to moisture. If portions of such layers are exposed to moisture (such as may occur when the printhead is mounted to the print cartridge), it is possible for the printhead layers to delaminate as the absorbed moisture penetrates and degrades the moisture permeable layer.